‘Love’ means shooting pistols for local GI eyeing Olympics

WESTMINSTER — U.S. Army Spec. Tyler C. Imig cannot believe he gets paid to do what he loves best: shoot pistols.

“I am still surprised that I get to do this,” he said. “How often do you get paid to do something like this?”

With a goal to qualify for the 2012 Olympic shooting team, the 24-year-old pistol shooter currently ranks No. 8 in the country.

A 2005 graduate of Oakmont Regional High School, Spec. Imig said he enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell last year to start his career as a shooter.

“I got a letter from the Army telling me that I could enlist and be placed on the national team, so that’s what I did,” he said.

Today, he is under a four-year contract with the Army and stationed at Fort Benning, Ga.

As a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Spec. Imig is one of six shooters in his division. He shoots both air pistols and free pistols, which are classified as international precision events.

While other young adults his age look for employment in their fields, Spec. Imig is literally in the field, spending his days shooting and training other soldiers to shoot.

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